Having played nearly an hour from the start in the 33-21 defeat of Leinster, Hooley shifted to 12 and put in another 50-minute shift as Moseley were beaten 42-24 at the Gardens.
“It was a first and hopefully a last!” the fly half told SaintsTV. “At this time of the year though it’s just good to get those minutes in your legs. I feel like i’m in pretty good condition so I enjoyed getting out there and getting plenty of game time under my belt.”
The two wins came in differing fashion, the Saints roaring clear against Leinster and holding off a second half fightback before going blow-for-blow with a spirited Mose outfit.
“Leinster are a very well drilled and structured side. It was pleasing to see how well we played in the first half, particularly off set-piece ball. We were pretty clinical, but they also caused us problems, particularly in the second half.
“Moseley on the other hand, who I know well after my time with them last year, are a great bunch of lads who work hard for each other and really try to mess your ball up at the breakdown. They were difficult and niggly, but I thought the boys did really well to keep their patience and break them down.
“We’ve had a really good pre-season so far and look in good shape, but there are still plenty of things for us to work on. We’ll look at the video in the week and take that forward to next week’s game at Dragons.”
We’ll have live updates from that game at www.twitter.com/SaintsRugby
